Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become a US Secretary of State, has died at the age of 84. She served under President Bill Clinton's administration from 1997 to 2001, making history for women in the US.
Her family announced her death in statement released on Wednesday (March 23). They said that she was "surrounded by family and friends" when she died.
The family's statement said: "We are heartbroken to announce that Dr Madeleine K Albright, the 64th US secretary of state and the first woman to hold that position, passed away earlier today. The cause was cancer. She was surrounded by family and friends. We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.
"Madeline Albright, born Marie Jana Korbelova, was a native of Prague who came to the United States as a refugee in 1948 and rose to the heights of American policy-making, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the nation’s highest civilian honor [sic].
"A tireless champion of democracy and human rights, she was at the time of her death a professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, part of Denton‘s Global Advisors, chair of Albright Capital Management, president of the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation, chair of the National Democratic Institute, chair of the US Defense [sic] Policy Board, and an author.
"She founded the Albright Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College, served as a lifetime trustee of The Aspen Institute, and was a member of the chapter of the Washington National Cathedral. She was 84 years old."
Originally from Czechoslovakia, Dr Albright became a US citizen in 1957 after her father moved the family to Denver, Colorado. After a spell as US ambassador to the United Nations in 1993, she became the US secretary of state in 1997.
At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the US government. She served in the post for four years. She is survived by three daughters.
